Reverse Aging, Acne & Gray Hair—No Botox Needed! Nutritionist Maria Marlowe's Food Secrets

Maria Marlowe—acne nutritionist, author, and founder of GLO Biome—joins Question Everything to unpack the gut-skin connection, the skincare lies we've been sold, and how she reversed five years of breakouts with food (and even her gray hair). In a beauty culture obsessed with products, Botox, and quick fixes, Maria's work is a radical return to root cause healing. In this episode, she shares:

• Why she believes acne is a blessing in disguise

• How she healed five years of breakouts in three months without meds

• The real reason your gut health might be causing anxiety, melasma, and eczema

• Why she's skipping Botox and what she does instead (hint: face taping)

• What Sephora teens are getting dangerously wrong about skincare

• The common myths about oily, dry, and "combination" skin debunked

• Her thoughts on popular trends like snail mucin, collagen powders, and ice rolling

• What your poop, blood sugar, and cravings say about your skin

• How to spot supplement BS + what ingredients actually work

• Why "girl dinner" might be wrecking your gut

• The one food she says clears skin fast and how to eat for hormonal balance

• What to do during a breakout (including her 3-day Clear Skin Plan)

• The link between toxins, inflammation, and premature aging

• Why she believes skincare should be gentle and aging is not a flaw to fix

This is a conversation about trusting your body, unlearning beauty industry noise, and healing from the inside out.

Follow Maria here

Glow Biome Probiotic

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
No one has all the answers, but when we ask
the right questions, we get a little closer, closer to truths,
closer to each other, even closer to ourselves. I'm journalist
Danielle Robe, and each week, my guests and I come
together to challenge the status quo and our own ways
of thinking by daring to ask what if, why not?

(00:28):
And who says?

Speaker 2 (00:30):
So?

Speaker 1 (00:30):
Come curious, dig deep, and join the conversation. It's time
to question everything. Can you believe it's already summer? I can't,
and I'm trying to mark summer with one goal that
doesn't have to do with work. So I decided to
learn how to kiteboard. I found like a camp or

(00:52):
a school, an adult one forty minutes or sixty minutes
away from me, So I signed up. I'm gonna do it.
I'll report back. I'm wondering if you all have any
summer goals. I'd be super curious, and also maybe if
you DM them to me, we can inspire each other. Well.
I hope you're going to feel inspired by today's episode.

(01:14):
I know I did. It's all about our skin. Our
skin is always talking to us, but most of us
were never taught how to listen. We've been sold a
ten step skincare routine and lasers and peels and injectables,
But what if we're missing the point. Our guest today

(01:36):
is Maria Marlowe. After healing her own acne with food
in three months after years of struggle, she became the
first nutritionist to specialize in acne, and then she built
a science backed wellness practice, launched a supplement company, and
now helps people worldwide understand how our gut, skin and
mental health are deeply connected. Work is rooted in one belief,

(02:02):
our skin is talking to us. I obviously had a
million questions for her, so we got into it all.
We talk about the myth of skin types, the truth
behind hormonal acme, how she reversed her gray hair, which
she did, I saw it with my own eyes, and
why if you want to age well, she actually doesn't
think you should start with botox. Instead, you should start

(02:24):
with your blood sugar. And while I'm all for using
medicine when it's needed, I love Maria's ethos of asking
what is your skin trying to tell you? I obviously
had to ask her what my skin was trying to
tell me. I've been dealing with two things that she
helps me with in real time. So today we are
exploring our skin as a mirror not just of beauty,
but of imbalance, of inflammation and stress and healing. This

(02:47):
isn't about perfection or shame. It's about tuning in because
Maria thinks that healing your skin might not just make
your face glow, it might change your life. So the
question we're circling today is what if the answers to
our ezema, our pimples, our roseatia, and even achieving glowing
skin lies in our kitchen instead of our skincare cabinet.

(03:11):
It's time to question everything with Maria Marlow. So I
heard that you are the first nutritionist to specialize in acne. Yeah,
that's true.

Speaker 2 (03:22):
Yeah, well as far as I know, because when I
started almost two decades ago, which is kind of crazy,
nobody was even really talking about the connection between food
and your skin. And in fact, when I had really
bad acne and you'd go to the dermatologist, they would
tell you not really, there's no connection between food and
your skin. Yeah, And it wasn't until five years later

(03:46):
of me trying all the conventional stuff of the drug
store stuff, then the prescription medications and it not working.
That I really started to question everything and say, why
isn't the skincare working? Is there something wrong with me? Right?
Because I'm doing everything I'm supposed to be doing and
my skin is not clearing up. So that is what
led me down this whole rabbit hole of nutrition for skin.

(04:09):
And you know, surprisingly there is a small but mighty
and growing body of evidence showing the connection. And interestingly,
I would say, prior to like the nineteen seventies, diet
was really thought of as the both the cause and
the cure for acne. And even if you look, I
like going into history. So when I'm interested in something,

(04:31):
I go down the rabbit hole. And in doing research,
I realized if you go to the original even dermatology textbooks,
I'm talking like seventeen hundreds, eighteen hundreds, when they talk
about acne, they're talking about food. And it wasn't really
until the nineteen seventies that the whole food skin you know.

Speaker 1 (04:47):
Sa connection.

Speaker 2 (04:48):
Yeah, it just fell out of favor in favor of pharmaceuticals,
and so we've all kind of been, you know, thrown
off the track. Because if you were born after that
you never really came across that information. So yeah, so
I just discovered there is this connection between what we
eat and our skin health. I started experimenting, and after
five years of breaking out like NonStop, my skin cleared

(05:12):
up in three months. Three months, three months.

Speaker 1 (05:15):
Okay, I need you to rewind a little bit because
you're frustrated with your skin. Yeah, okay, And you're living
in New York, right, yes, where there's like I've always heard,
there's environmental aspect to skin. Potentially New York has a
lot of fumes, it's hot in the summer. And how
do you turn to these textbooks? What makes you think
to look through history?

Speaker 2 (05:34):
So okay, how I got there first? I was actually
in college and I was sitting there with a friend
and probably complaining about my skin. And she grew up
very differently than me, Like I grew up in New
York Italian American family. We ate you know, Italian food,
but we also ate a lot of fast food and
frozen pizzas and all that kind of stuff. My mom

(05:55):
didn't really like cooking. She sought more as a chore.
So friend who grew up like all organic and like
very differently a lot of whole real foods and she's like,
you know, your acne might be caused by what you're eating.
And meanwhile, I'm sitting there having like two slices of pizza,
chocolate chip cookies, and a Coca Cola And I was like, no,

(06:16):
that's impossible. Like I've been to all of these dermatologists
and not one of them have ever asked me what
I'm eating. But I was so desperate at this time
that I was willing to try anything. So she had
recommended this one dermatologist who was talking about the skin
and acne connection, and based on his work, that's where
I started getting into it, and that was really my

(06:36):
starting point.

Speaker 1 (06:38):
Cool. Yeah, and so for someone who has never dealt
with acne, this may sound obvious, but can you explain
what the struggle really is?

Speaker 2 (06:47):
Oh, It's more than just physical, right, because acne is
on your face and that's how you show up every
day every you know, everywhere, and it really takes a
toll on your self confidence. So for me, it got
to the point where I basically had a nervous breakdown
because I was so frustrated that my skin was not
clearing up. And what made it worse it was not

(07:09):
just the acne. It was the fact that I was
doing everything I was supposed to do. I'm very type A,
so if I need to do something, i'll do I'll
do it and I'll follow it to a t I
was doing that it wasn't working, so I felt that
like there was something wrong with me. Yeah, and it's
as much as it's physical, it's also a mental struggle
that's horrible.

Speaker 1 (07:27):
Yeah, it's popular on TikTok now. I think maybe because
of alex Earl a little bit for women to show
their acne and talk about the struggle. And it's the
first time that I've really had a window into it.
And it's for some people, it can be really debilitating,
Like you don't want to leave the house, you don't
want to go to parties, you don't want to go
on dates. It's really tough.

Speaker 2 (07:44):
Yeah, for sure. And I found myself like shrinking in,
you know, because you don't want to do that. I
would skip school, I would skip eventsip skip things all
the time because I didn't want people to see me.

Speaker 1 (07:54):
Why don't people see the mental struggle of it, Well,
I think.

Speaker 2 (07:58):
Because they're hiding the closed doors, you know. So it's
not always so obvious. I do think with social media,
with people like Alex Earl sharing more, it's coming to
light more and people are more open about it, which
is fantastic because the reality is acne is very very
common between like teens, it's ninety to ninety five percent

(08:20):
get it at some point in the US, and even
amongst adults it could be anywhere from like twenty to
fifty percent, you know, based on the decade, twenty year old,
twenty thirties and forties that have acne, So it's actually
quite quite common.

Speaker 1 (08:33):
How much of acne cannot be cured by.

Speaker 2 (08:35):
Food from what I've seen, like very very little, like
none of it practically, I mean, acne is very much
a disease of Western civilization. Okay, so the statistics I
just told you like ninety to ninety five percent of
teens and say twenty to fifty percent of adults depending
on the decade. If you go to other countries, it's

(08:56):
like nothing, it's miniscul And even if you look historically
throughout the US, our acne rates have just risen so dramatically.
So I'll give you an example. There was two different
studies in Egypt, so one was in a very rural
part of Egypt, and they looked at the prevalence of
skin diseases amongst teenagers and I think like maybe under
twenty one or something like that, their rate of acne

(09:19):
was two percent. It's like two point five percent, okay,
amongst thousands of people living in this way, which is crazy.
But if you went to one of the major cities, Cairo,
where they do have access to processed foods and probably
a more stressful lifestyle, it was more like sixty five percent, right,
So it's not like a genetic thing. It's diet and
lifestyle thing. And even there's been studies where researchers have

(09:42):
went to more remote parts of the world like Papua
New Guinea and About Island, these small places where people
really maintain a traditional diet of whole foods. They're eating
vegetables and roots and fish and meat and that's it.
They're not eating processed foods. It's non existent even amongst
young people teens to adults. It's literally nonexistent.

Speaker 1 (10:03):
So it's not genetic.

Speaker 2 (10:05):
No, you know, we've been studying genes for how many
decades and an acne gene has never been found. If
there is a family that has acne. The parents have
it and the children have it. It's more likely because
they're eating the same foods and living a similar diet
and lifestyle.

Speaker 1 (10:20):
Wow. Yeah, Okay, so you start reading these textbooks and
you find this information about the link between food and
your skin. Yep, when does the light bulb go off?
What changes?

Speaker 2 (10:32):
Okay? So what happened? I actually didn't believe it at
first because I was skeptical too. I was like, there's
no way that food could actually clear your skin. I
was very skeptical, but I was like, let me stick
to the plan for three months or however long it takes.
I stuck to it. Three months later, my skin is clear,
and I was like, no, like, this is impossible. This
God must have answered my prayers. This is a miracle

(10:54):
because there's no way it could have been food. So
I went back to eating my pizza and Coca cola
and chocolate chip cookies and all the that, and the
next day my skin is broken out. So I could
see it in the mirror and I was like, oh, okay,
it is actually the food. Yeah. So to see that
difference in the mirror, like is wow. That's when the
light bulb really went off, and that's why I was like, Okay,
food is so powerful, and that's what got me interested

(11:16):
in studying nutrition, going back to school to learn about nutrition,
and really just changing my career path.

Speaker 1 (11:22):
When I was a junior in high school, I went
to Spain. I think I had i'd never been with
my first time in Europe or anywhere like that. And
the the girl that I was rooming with was like
tall and model and cool. And I looked at her
and I was like, I want to be like you.
And she smoked cigarettes, and so one night she was like, Okay,

(11:44):
can you please try a cigarette? I'd never I was
such a good ee two. Shoot, I've never tried a cigarette.
I was like, yeah, I'm in Spain. Tonight's the night.
So we're out of our hotel windows smoking a cigarette.
I wake up the next morning with a huge ZiT
on my chin.

Speaker 2 (11:57):
And I looked at her and I was.

Speaker 1 (11:58):
Like, never again, never again. It's crazy. Yeah it really
And that was good.

Speaker 2 (12:04):
That was good. That was your body helping you out.

Speaker 1 (12:06):
So you say that acne may seem like a curse,
but it's actually a blessing. And I'm shocked to hear
you say that, I don't know if anyone would believe you.
What do What in the world do you mean?

Speaker 2 (12:17):
Okay, acne is definitely a blessing in disguise because it's
on our face, so we want to get rid of it.
Very few people are just like, Okay, let's let it ride. No,
you want to figure out and get to the root
of it. And so, like me, if you keep putting
on the topical things and it doesn't work, you start
to question things, right, and it will take you deeper.
Because acne is a sign of inflammation and imbalance in

(12:40):
the body. Yeah, and it does take a little bit
of detective work to get there, but if you actually look,
you will find what the imbalances is imbalances are and
because those imbalances and inflammation can also cause other health
conditions more serious than acne, it is a blessing in
disguise because if you nip it in the body early

(13:00):
and change your diet and lifestyle to clear your skin,
you're also improving your immune system, your gut health, you know,
your overall health.

Speaker 1 (13:08):
When you put it like that, I get what you're saying.
I agree, because it is sort of like the first
Domino exactly. So there's so much information about the gut
these days, but there's a lot of supplements that make
promises about your gut as well. In addition to acne,
How might you know that your gut needs healing?

Speaker 2 (13:28):
Yeah, so, well, the obvious signs would be digestive issues,
so things like floating gas, constipation, or diarrhea. If you're
having those on a regular basis, you definitely want to
do some gut testing and figure out what's going on
there because it doesn't get better with age. You know,
it's not going to just heal itself. Typically you want
to figure out what's going on and put in a

(13:50):
plan to fix that. So I would say that is
those are the common ones. However, you could have gut dyspiosis,
which is too few good bacteria and too many bad
bacteria in the gut without necessarily having overt digestive signs.
So if you had a chronic inflammatory skin condition like acne, soriasis,

(14:12):
or roseaesia, that is typically a sign that your gut
needs some help.

Speaker 1 (14:16):
Interesting, Yeah, okay, So everything that shows up in our skin,
even rosation not acne, is an indication of something.

Speaker 2 (14:22):
Yeah, could be, Yes, they're very much gut related. The
gut like, what does rosation mean? So roseesia actually has
been found to be People who have roseesia are more
likely to have something called CEBO, which is small intestinal
bacterial overgrowth. And like for example, with psoriasis, people with
psoriasis tend to have leaky gut or increased intestinal permeability.

(14:44):
So these issues are creating inflammation and starting in the gut,
but it ends up going through our body and showing
up on our skin. How about ezema, So exima could
also be gut related. Sometimes it's also topically like topical
things can also irritate it. But eema can also just
be gut dyspiosis as well. And leaky gut.

Speaker 1 (15:03):
Wow, yeah, and this sounds so silly, but what is
leaky gut?

Speaker 2 (15:10):
So our gut is one cell thick, like the lining
of our guts. So if you think of a tube,
the outer edge of the tube, it's one cell thick,
So all the cells are lined up next to each other,
and there is basically a door between each cell. It's
called a tight junction. And in a healthy gut, when
we eat food, the food stays in our guts and

(15:30):
just the nutrients are coming out into the bloodstream, right,
The doors are opening for the nutrients to come out.
When we have leaky guts, those doors are open, and
so now other things can leak through them, like bacteria
on digested food particles, toxins, things that are supposed to
stay in the gut now make it to the bloodstream.
And that's what's creating inflammation because the immune system is

(15:52):
seeing it as an invader and attacking and creating that inflammation.

Speaker 1 (15:56):
Wow. Yeah, So what do you look for when you're
decided what supplement you're going to take?

Speaker 2 (16:02):
First, how it's made. I look for an NSF certified facility,
which is the gold standard of supplement manufacturing, to make
sure that what's in the model is what's on the label,
and they also make sure there's no extra nasties in there.
And secondly, I look for clinically validated ingredients. So the
ingredients typically will have a little trademark or a registered
trademark mark after it though that's a sign that the

(16:24):
ingredient is actually clinically tested, and so we want to
use clinically tested ingredients to make sure that we're going
to get the benefit that we're looking for.

Speaker 1 (16:33):
And do you have a specific brand you like taking
or that you trust.

Speaker 2 (16:37):
Yeah, so there are a couple of brands that I like.
I like Thorn and Pure Encapsulations. Those are really high
quality supplements. And I actually have a supplement called glow Biome.
That's also why I know a lot about all of this,
which is a probiotic specifically for acne prone skin, again
using clinically validated strains that support that gut skin connection.

(16:57):
I've seen it.

Speaker 1 (16:58):
There's a lot of pseudoscience on tick. Yeah, and I've
seen a lot of there's a backlash against probiotics right now.

Speaker 2 (17:04):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (17:04):
I felt a lot of benefits from probiotics. Yeah, so
I don't agree with TikTok. What's your take? Yeah, for sure.

Speaker 2 (17:10):
I mean probiotics can really be life changing, and I
honestly think that probiotics are the future of skincare and
even healthcare. You know, pharmaceutical companies are now even really
studying probiotics and looking at them for various different therapeutic benefits.
Because the thing is, our bodies are mostly bacteria, right.
We have a gut microbiome, we have an oral microbiome,

(17:32):
a vaginal microbiome, we have a skin microbiome. Right, we're bacteria,
and you know, for a long time, Western medicine has
really focused on killing the bad bacteria, right, using antibiotics
for everything. But now we're realizing that it's better that
we support the good bacteria and let them basically crowd

(17:53):
out the bad bacteria. So it's really important, you know,
for our immune health, for our gut health, for our
mental health. Science showing that the makeup of your gut
microbiome can actually influence things like depression and mood. We
know what it affects your immune system. We know what
affects acne. You know, there are studies that found, for example,
with acne patients, they tend to lack certain Lactobacillus and

(18:15):
Fifittobacteria strains in their gut. They tend to have low
bacterial diversity, they tend to have leaky gut, and simply
adding in the right strains can actually help to clear
the skin from within.

Speaker 1 (18:26):
I feel like the question everybody asks you is what
about hormones.

Speaker 2 (18:29):
Yeah, well, hormones play a role in acne because hormones
control the supacious glands, right, which are your oil producing glands.
So some people talk about having hormonal acne versus like
regular acne. Let's say, but hormones play a role in
all types of acne. Okay, here's the thing. If you
have hormonal imbalance or hormonal acne, your hormones are not

(18:52):
actually the issue. The issue is whatever is causing your
hormones to become unbalanced. Because our body likes to maintain homeostasis,
meaning it likes to maintain balance, So not too much,
not too little of anything, right, We're at the perfect
the perfect balance. When our hormones are imbalanced, we need

(19:12):
to ask, like, how did that happen? Because our body
naturally wants to be balanced. How did it get off
balance our diet and our lifestyle. So with hormonal acne,
let's talk about that. A lot of times it's stemming
from the gut. So this is actually a really big
link between constipation and acne. There's been several studies that
have found that people with acne are more likely to

(19:34):
be constipated. Here's where the hormones come in. The way
that we excrete excess hormones is through this tool. So
if we are constipated, those excess hormones can actually get
reabsorbed back into the bloodstream contributing to imbalance. So that's
just one way that our gut is actually involved with
our hormone balance. What's considered constipated, so anything less than

(19:57):
once a day. But if if you are going once
a day and not fully emptying, you could still technically
be constipated.

Speaker 1 (20:05):
Wow. Yeah, I've been constipated my whole life.

Speaker 2 (20:09):
No, okay, we've got to help you out. Well, your
skin looks great, so that ain't you. I've never dealt
with acne, but that's amazing. Yeah. And that's what's interesting
is it's never the same thing for everybody across the board.
There's so many different factors at plan. But I will say,
just getting back to the hormone thing, don't worry. I'm
going to help you out. Set you up with a plan.

(20:30):
Not having enough fiber that can also cause imbalances.

Speaker 1 (20:33):
I think that's my problem.

Speaker 2 (20:34):
Yes, yeah, that could definitely be a problem. So not
having enough fiber or eating too much sugar or too
much refined carbohydrates that can also cause hormonal imbalances. Got it? Yeah?

Speaker 1 (20:44):
Wow, if you had to prescribe a grocery list instead
of a medicine cabinet, what would be on it.

Speaker 2 (20:51):
I love that this is exactly what I do. So okay, First,
plenty of fiber rich fruits and vegetables. These are super
important for so many reasons. First, they're full of antioxidants,
They are full of phyto nutrients, vitamins, minerals, fiber which
is really good for regularity, which is key to clear skin.
And they are like in particular, the dark leafed greens

(21:14):
and the orange vegetables are really good for acne prone
skin because they contain carotenoids, which are the orange pigments,
like a bit of caroteine, and our body converts that
to vitamin A. It's really helpful for skin cell turnover
and it helps to prevent clod pores. So that would
be at the top of the list. Omega three rich foods,
so that includes things like wild salmon, anchovy, sardines, et cetera,

(21:37):
like cold cold water, like fatty fish. These are really
great for supplying omega three, which is anti inflammatory in
the body. And omega three is also a very common
deficiency for acne patients, so those are great. I would
say fermented foods, things like sauer kraut, kimchi pickles, These
are a natural source of probiotics and prebiotics, So having

(21:59):
about an owl of those a day can be really helpful.
In the event someone is not consuming them on the regular,
then taking a probiotic supplement I think is really helpful.
I will say that not everybody likes the taste of
the fermented foods, but so you can try different ones
to see what you like. Flax Seed. Flax seed is amazing.

Speaker 1 (22:21):
I think that's what I need to add in.

Speaker 2 (22:23):
Yes, flax seed is super simple, just one tablespoon a day.
You can add it to just about anything. You could
put it on salads, smoothies, oatmeal, you can even use
it as a breading. Sometimes I mix it with spices
to make like chicken fingers and things like that a
healthy version. And that's another source of omega three and fiber.

Speaker 1 (22:42):
Your family is very lucky to have you. The cooking
is a one.

Speaker 2 (22:46):
I don't know if they think that. Yes, my husband,
he's very into the healthy eating. Yeah, my baby eats
so healthy. Everyone's amazed when I share, like what my
baby's eating, They're like wow. But like my parents and stuff,
when I come over, they're like, oh.

Speaker 1 (23:00):
Well, different generation. Yeah, you had like a very cool
education based on all of your skin issues. Yeah, what
foods do you think we should be adding into our
diet to help our skin?

Speaker 2 (23:11):
Yeah, so definitely things like carrots, sweet potato, butternut squash.
Those are some of my favorite orange veggies for that
beta carotene. I also have cod liver oil. Cod liver
oil is a good source of omega three, vitamin A
and vitamin D really important for skin. Wild salmon, anchhoby, sardines,
any of those omega three rich foods are going to
be great for us. Okay, black seed, chia seed, hempseed, walnuts,

(23:34):
plat based sources of omega threes okay, and fruit food
is actually amazing. It's also great for preventing premature aging
of the skin because we need that vitamin C to
produce collagen.

Speaker 1 (23:47):
So I learned that people with acne are more likely
to be deficient of certain nutrients. What are those?

Speaker 2 (23:53):
Vitamin A, omega three, and zinc are probably the most
most common.

Speaker 1 (23:57):
Wow. Yeah, okay, what about when you're in the middle
of a full blown breakout? Yeah, what can you do
in your diet to course correct quickly?

Speaker 2 (24:06):
Okay? Flax seed have the flax seed that is just
such a game changer. You can see the difference, I'm
telling you, within a few days because it's so powerful
with the domega threes and the fiber for the digestion.
So just add a tablespoon of that, you know, once
a day for a couple of days, that will really help.

Speaker 1 (24:24):
Interesting. Yeah, I'm so glad you told me that I
would have not guessed.

Speaker 2 (24:27):
Yeah. And also a wild salmon. So if I was
breaking out, like if I had a crazy breakout right now,
I would be having flax seed, I would be having
wild salmon. I'd be having spices like turmeric, ginger, ginger,
lemon tea something like that. I actually have this three
day clear skin starter kit on my website, is just
a free download and it has like three days or breakfast, lunch,
and dinner. And I'm telling you, like the before and afters,

(24:50):
it really makes a huge difference when you eat anti inflammatory,
nutrient dense foods.

Speaker 1 (24:54):
That's really cool.

Speaker 2 (24:55):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (24:56):
You know, hearing you talk a little bit more, I
now understand what you mean by the blessing, and it's
more of a blessing than it is a curse. Yeah,
because all the foods you're talking about are foods that
are important for other reasons besides our skin.

Speaker 2 (25:08):
Exactly.

Speaker 1 (25:09):
You're so right, what do you think our mental state
has to do with our skin?

Speaker 2 (25:15):
Stress can break us out? It's actually been shown, there's
been plenty of studies that have shown that mental stress. Yeah,
any sort of negative emotions or thoughts can actually cause breakouts.
And the way that it does it is through the gut.
So the negative emotions can actually wipe out some of
those good bacteria in the gut, which allows the bad
bacteria to increase and create inflammation and can show up

(25:39):
as breakouts on our skin.

Speaker 1 (25:40):
Can anxiety be a symptom of gut issues?

Speaker 2 (25:43):
Yeah, it can for sure. Yeah, any sort of mood disorder, anxiety,
depression can be a sign of gut issues. And again
you're starting to see, you know, different probiotic strains being
tested specifically for mental health issues, and there are strains
that are goods typically for mood.

Speaker 1 (26:01):
Wow. Yeah, I remember I went on a bike ride
with one of my friends. We were biking hard, it
was like for exercise, and in the middle I had
to stop and I said, I'm sorry, I feel like
I'm having a panic attack on the bike. I don't
know what's happening. Yeah, And she's a nutritionist, she's a
dietician as well, and she was like, did you eat
this morning? And I was like, actually, no, I think

(26:23):
I forgot to eat because we biked early. And she
was like, you know, anxiety can actually like it can
show up. Oh, she said, hunger can show up as
the same symptoms as anxiety, Like you could just be hungry. Yeah,
And so when I think about like our skin, I'm like,
maybe anxiety isn't really the thing. Maybe we're hungry for

(26:44):
certain nutrients.

Speaker 2 (26:45):
Like nutrient nutrient deficient. Yeah, yeah, yeah, And there's also
like things with blood sugar imbalances. So when it comes
to food, there are a few different ways that it
affects our skins. So nutrient deficiencies, you know, what we're
not eating can be a problem we are eating. If
there's pro inflammatory foods, that could be a problem. So
things like sugar or vegetable oils, anything that's disrupting our

(27:08):
gut can be a problem. And blood sugar and balances,
So if we're eating too much sugar and our blood
sugar is on a roller coaster, that's also going to
show up on our skin.

Speaker 1 (27:16):
Okay, So what do you do when you're like, I'm
gonna have a cheat day. I want to have a
slice of pizza or a burger and fries or whatever
it is. Is there anything that you do before or
after to sort of balance it out. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (27:27):
So I don't believe in restriction. My thing is more
about what we add in. And so for me, the
majority of the time, I'm eating a healthy, whole food,
nutrient dense diet, like let's say ninety to ninety five
percent of the time. That other five to ten percent
of the time, if I want to eat French fries,
if I want to eat this or that, whatever it is,
I just do it and I have no guilt about it.
I think the not having guilt is the biggest piece

(27:50):
of the puzzle, because you can just drive yourself crazy,
and the stress of eating something that you're not supposed
to have is more damaging, I think than the food itself.
So I think that's one thing that I do. The
second thing I would say, if I want something sweet,
I would instead of having it as a snack in
the middle of the day, I would have it as
dessert because it's important to have protein and fiber before

(28:13):
we eat sweet things to keep our blood sugar more stable.
So that's a little easy hack.

Speaker 1 (28:17):
That's a good tip. Yeah, Okay, I have two skin
issues that I want to ask you about. Okay, I
think one is more comple Actually they're both kind of complicated.

Speaker 2 (28:26):
Okay. The first is my entire life. On the back
of my arms, I've had carotosis. Is that what it's called? Yeah,
carotosis polaris, carotosis polaris, and every dermatologist will give me
some cream that doesn't work. Yeah, is this a gut issue?
This could very well be a lack of vitamin A. Wow,
So that's like commonly called like chicken skin, those bumps

(28:47):
on the back of the arm, that can actually be
a sign of low vitamin A. So you could go
get your vitamin A levels tested. So, vitamin A is
not actually in many foods. It's primarily found in liver
and organ meats, which most people are not eating on
a regular basis, if at all. And it's found in
those green and orange vegetables as beta carotene or crotenoids,

(29:08):
which the body converts into vitamin AH. So if you're
not eating these foods on a regular basis and insufficient amounts,
you're probably low vitamin A. Interesting, and it's very easy
to just get a blood test to see if you are.
And then I always advise food first, ideally, so incorporating
more of those foods into your diet. That's why I
also like cod liver oil because it's to me, it's

(29:31):
more palatable than having liver, so it's an easier way
to get the vitamin A in. I will say for
incorporating more liver and organ meats into the diet, which
they are very nutrient dense, but I know the taste
and the idea of them could be a bit off putting.
You can get blends where it's about eighty percent regular
meats muscle meat, and then ten or twenty percent the

(29:52):
organ meat, and you can put them into burgers or
whatever you're making boloniets and you don't taste them. Cool.

Speaker 1 (29:57):
Yeah, So I don't have to just hold my nose
and down the oil, which is something I would do.

Speaker 2 (30:02):
Yeah, that's what I do. I just don't breathe and yeah,
I have some lemon water right after, and it's really
not that bad.

Speaker 1 (30:07):
That's what I would do. I'm like, just let me
get it over it. Yeah, that's really interesting. I've had
it my whole life. It got better as I got older. Okay,
but my best friend from college has it too, and
we always talk. We're like, how are your bumpies today?

Speaker 2 (30:19):
Okay, so you have to like let me know in
a month or two how it goes.

Speaker 1 (30:23):
I'll do it before and after photo. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (30:25):
Yeah, yeah. Okay.

Speaker 1 (30:26):
Here's the other thing that just popped up and it's
freaking me out.

Speaker 2 (30:29):
Okay.

Speaker 1 (30:30):
So I'm really good about the sun. I wear sunscreen hats,
like I don't sit in the sun. I have it
for years. Yeah, And all of a sudden I woke
up and I had what looked like sun spots right
here on the upper cheek yeah, as well as a
little bit on my forehead okay, going it was kind
of like a round spot right here for anybody listening,

(30:52):
it kind of was like where Harry Potter's scar is, Okay.
And I was so upset because I thought, I've been
so good about the sun. How could this just pop
up out of nowhere? And I went to go get
a facial and my facialist is a little bit of
a witch. She's amazing, and she was like, I don't
think this is sunspots because it's very even on your face.

(31:13):
This looks like it's malasma, which is hormonal. Yeah. Is
there anything I can do? What is happening to my.

Speaker 2 (31:21):
Face for a malasma? Yeah, that one's a little bit tougher.
So that also sometimes happens with pregnancy, like hormonal shifts. Yeah,
So for malasma, I'm not an expert on that, I
will say, but I know typically what's recommended as not
doing heat like or sauna sometimes that could exacerbate it.

(31:41):
But what I would recommend is have you tested for
hormonal any hormonal imbalances.

Speaker 1 (31:47):
So I made an appointment. I have it in two weeks, okay, So.

Speaker 2 (31:49):
I would start there, figure out if and what the
imbalance is, and then try to rectify that. I'm always
very pro doing it through your diet and lifestyle because,
like I mentioned earlier, when the hormones are imbalanced, it's
not because your body is just like, haha, just throwing
a monkey wrench. You know too, there's something to do.
Something in your dye and lifestyle is throwing it off.

(32:09):
It could be you know, stressed, lack of sleep, whatever
it is. Trying to figure out what's causing it rectifying
that and hopefully that helps and as doesnthn so asdaxentthin
is a very powerful antioxidant. It's found in like shrimp,
for example, anything that has like that pinky orange color,
while salmon has it. Also, it's a very very powerful
antioxidant that some people take specifically for a lightning any

(32:34):
sort of dark spots on the skin.

Speaker 1 (32:35):
That's good to know because I called a dermatologist and
she said, you know, there's molasma medication I can prescribe you. Yeah,
And I said, no, thanks, I'm going to hold off. Yeah,
it's not like it's not so bad yet. Yeah, I'm
going to try and fix it through my gut.

Speaker 2 (32:51):
Yes, I think that's a great idea.

Speaker 1 (32:52):
I'll report back on that too. Report Okay, So if
you grew up in the two thousands, you probably remember
our upset with skin types. Yeah, there was oily, there
was dry, there was combination. You say, all of this
is a total myth for sure. So we're all born
with normal skin. Everyone has normal skin, which can become
more or less oily or more or less dry depending

(33:15):
on the environment and our diet and lifestyle. So when
it comes to oily skin, for example, we know that
having too much sugar can actually create make our skin
create more sebum, more oil. So keeping our blood sugar
balance can actually bring your oil production back into balance. Wow.

Speaker 2 (33:33):
Yeah. And then with dryness, if you have really dry
skin and you keep slathering on moisturizer and just your
skin is just steal dry, dry, dry, then you want
to check your nutrients, check your vitamin A, check your
own Mega three. Both of those can be at play.

Speaker 1 (33:49):
I love that that's a myth. I've never heard about this.
Researching for your interview is what taught me. Face mapping,
so you can determine where your break that what I'll
let you describe it. What is face mapping?

Speaker 2 (34:04):
Face mapping? It actually comes from traditional Chinese medicine, and
the idea is that where your breakouts are on your
face is an indicator of the underlying root cause.

Speaker 1 (34:16):
So if it's on my chin, it's hormonal.

Speaker 2 (34:18):
Yes, So the chin, like the lower jaw area is hormonal,
like cheese, My cheek, cheeks could sometimes be hormonal. Forehead
could be more digestive.

Speaker 1 (34:29):
It's liver and kidney.

Speaker 2 (34:30):
Actually here can be liver and kidney kind of your
chee cheek area. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (34:34):
And I used to get one like right on the
tip of my nose, and that was something I forgot.

Speaker 2 (34:37):
Yeah, to be honest, I know it's something too. I
don't remember what it is on the top of my head.
But what I'll say is this, whether it's hormonal or
digestive or liver and kidney like, it's it's there's that
digestion kind of like the layer down right, and food
plays a role in all that. So, like, let's talk
about the liver. Our modern diet and lifestyle well is

(35:01):
causing our livers to kind of go into overdrive, right,
working to clear out all the toxins and the chemicals
that we're exposed to in our personal care products and
the pollution in our home, you know, cleaning stuff, and
we're just exposed to chemicals all the time. Maybe we're drinking,
maybe we're eating processed foods, and the liver can become sluggish,
especially if we're not eating the nutrients that our liver

(35:22):
needs to perform its process of detoxification. So cruciferous vegetables
that includes things like broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, anything that has
that very sulfury smell. These are excellent for the liver.
Because they support Basically, they give your liver what it
needs to do its job. So if you feel like

(35:43):
your liver's a bit sluggish, you need a little helpless detoxification,
then add some you know, one to two servings of
those a day, broccoli or cauliflower, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, Brussels sprouts,
there's actually a whole list radishes, anything that has a
little bit of a bite.

Speaker 1 (35:57):
What skin products or skin care products do you think
we're overusing and under using?

Speaker 2 (36:02):
Okay, so overusing? I think we use harsh skincare, like
too much, like acids and peels and you know, literally
peeling our skin off. I just don't think that's good. Right,
If you think about a sunburn, what happens our skin
peels off. It's very bad for us. Right Do we
want to intentionally cause our skin to peel off? I
know this is controversial, right, but I'm not an esthetician,

(36:22):
But to me, I don't think that's the best way
to treat our skin. And personally because I also used
to do all that stuff and I found what works
for me is going more gentle and allowing the internal
stuff to actually do the heavy lifting.

Speaker 1 (36:36):
What skincare products are we over using and under using?

Speaker 2 (36:40):
I think we're overusing harsh actives way too much. Things
that are like chemical peels, things that are peeling off
our skin. I don't think is a great way to
treat our skin.

Speaker 1 (36:51):
Is that I'm aneuve? So is that like retinal hydroquonone tretonoen.

Speaker 2 (36:56):
Yes like the retinal's for example, or any even you know,
sometimes you go to a spa and they'll do a
chemical peel like lacolic acids and stuff. Low doses is
probably okay, but sometimes when you do the higher doses,
which really causes a lot of peeling. For me personally,
I don't think that's the best way to treat our skin.
If you think about a sunburn, what happens, our skin

(37:16):
peels off. It's not a good thing. Intentionally causing our
skin to peel off. I don't think it's great. I
think when we treat our skin more gently and we
use more gentle products, it's actually better. We allow our
skin to do its job. And also I believe it
is important to allow our blood and our organs, like
our diet and lifestyle to do the heavy lifting from
the inside out.

Speaker 1 (37:37):
Right and to give you those in everything you're saying
is our skin is indicating things. So if we're just
removing everything, we don't know what it's telling us. We're
not listening to the signals.

Speaker 2 (37:47):
Yeah, and what I find happens and I think this
is like if you look out on social media, it's
pretty evident we're using so much on our skin, but
our skin is actually getting worse. Right, It's more sensitive,
it's more real active. It's because you're, you know, basically
blasting away the outer protection of your skin, right, the
skin barrier, and it's going to become more sensitive and

(38:09):
more red and irritated. So I think when we can
fortify that barrier, which interestingly, there is some science to
show that if you have a strong gut barrier, it
can actually help with a strong skin barrier as well.

Speaker 1 (38:22):
What is your skincare routine? Do you do any peels,
any lasers?

Speaker 2 (38:26):
No, My skincare routine is so basic and like very minimal. Okay,
So I don't wash my face in the morning. I
think it's really important that we don't because as long
as you wash your face at night, there shouldn't be
anything on your face in the morning that needs to
be removed. At night at the end of the day,
if I'm wearing makeup, which I don't always wear a makeup,
but if I am, I'll use jojoba oil to just

(38:47):
take it off with some cotton pads. Then use a
gentle cleanser, like a probiotic cleanser or like a turmeric cleanser.
And then for a serum, I really like bacuccio. I
don't know if you've heard of this ingredient. So bikucioll
is a natural alternative to retinol. It's been shown in
studies to have similar properties in that it's good for

(39:07):
acne and it's good for anti aging, but without the irritation.
So retinols are notorious for being very irritating for the skin,
and you have to tread very carefully and slowly to
kind of get your skin used to using such a
harsh product product. But bakucioll you can get similar results
without cool yeah, without the side of X. So I
use that as a serum, and then I use a

(39:28):
light moisturizer like that has like mango butter in it. It's
it's really nice and that's it.

Speaker 1 (39:33):
And do you make the moisturizer you buy it?

Speaker 2 (39:35):
I don't I buy it. There's actually an estetician here
in La Brigitte Tulsen who makes She makes it. It's
called night Light, And honestly, this moisturizer is like amazing.
So that's what I use. And then for me, like
my skincare routine is eating healthy, it's you know, taking
glow biome, you know probiotics, it's you know, exercising, it's meditating.

(39:57):
All these things are I think the most powerful skin care.

Speaker 1 (40:00):
How much alcohol does it take to really recavoc on
your skin?

Speaker 2 (40:04):
Oh, that's a good question. I have no idea, but
I will say I think that with alcohol a little
bit here and there is totally fine. But alcohol is
dehydrating for the skin, which if you're drinking it once
in a while, no big deal. If you're drinking regularly
or excessively, then that dehydration can also actually cause extra

(40:28):
sebum to reproduced, so you could be dehydrated, but also oily.
And it's a liver toxin, so it's making our liver
more sluggish, which is not a good thing. It could
also make our skin more red, more irritated. So what
I would say is two to three drinks a week
or one to two drinks a day, two to three
times a week is good max a lot of drinks.

(40:50):
It is a lot of drinks. But I would say,
but people do more than that. Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (40:54):
But you know what's funny is on those doctor office
sign forms that you do, like on your yearly checkups,
like do you have five or six drinks a week?
And that's basically alcoholism.

Speaker 2 (41:04):
It's like I know a lot of people that have
five or six drinks a week for sure.

Speaker 1 (41:08):
Okay, anyways, what is our oral health? Does our oral
health play a role in our skin?

Speaker 2 (41:14):
Yeah, because our oral health actually out our mouth microbiome
actually affects our gut microbiome because imagine how many times
we're swallowing every day, right our food or just our saliva,
and the bacteria in our mouth are then going into
our guts. So having a healthy mouth microbiome is really important.
So brushing, flossing, I also love oil pulling, which helps

(41:36):
to really clean in between your gums and in between
your teeth. It's really important. And there are even dental
probiotics now, which are like lozenges that you can suck
on that deposit the good bacteria in your mouth, which
helps to get rid of bad breath and really just
keep your mouth fresh. WHOA, yeah, it's super cool? Is
that next on your list of Yeah, it's really an exciting,

(41:58):
fascinating area. And I always tell people because like sometimes
people are like, oh, they think waking up with bad
breath is just the way that it is, but it's
actually not. If you wake up with bad breath, there's
some guys in there, some bacteria in there that you
probably shouldn't have in there.

Speaker 1 (42:15):
That's an indication.

Speaker 2 (42:15):
That's an indication. So you want to introduce more of
the good bacteria into your oral cavity and that will
actually help quite a bit. Cool. Yeah, what's a myth
that drives you crazy that pillowcases cause acne? I think
it's crazy. I understand why sometimes people can think that.
But the thing is, if you're going to sleep with

(42:36):
clean skin and clean hair, there shouldn't be anything on
your pillowcase that's making you break out. So you don't
have to obsessively wash your pillowcase and you don't have
to change it every single day. If you have acne, Now,
if you're wearing you know, if you have hairspray and
hair products in your hair and stuff, then yes, maybe
like smushing into that all night is not going to
be great. But generally, if if you go to bed

(42:57):
with clean hair, clean skin, your pillowcase is not breaking you.

Speaker 1 (43:00):
I would think that our detergent would have more to
do with acne than our like hair or makeup.

Speaker 2 (43:08):
Well, it's hard to say. Also, it also depends if
you're sleeping on your back, then your face relation shouldn't
be coming into contact with the pillow at all. And
even if you're sleeping, if you're sleeping on the side
and you do have acne on one side, then yes,
maybe you want to look into what if what's on
the you know that side that you're you know that
you're breaking out on. But generally speaking, like I think

(43:30):
washing your pillowcase once a week is sufficient for most people.
You don't have to because what happens is I think
people get so stressed about it and imagine having to
have seven pillowcases or washing your pillowcase every single day
is very stressful. And I think again most of us
wash our face, or we should wash our face before
we go to bed, and if you have hair products

(43:50):
in your hair, just put on. They have those like
silk caps. Just put that on before you go to sleep.
You're fine.

Speaker 1 (43:56):
So you so generously shared information about some of my
skin issues that I'm having. But I think there's some
others that people will be curious about. How can we
heal dark under eye circles?

Speaker 2 (44:08):
So if you have dark under eye circles and you're
getting enough sleep, because not enough sleep can cause that,
check your iron levels. Having low iron can actually cause
dark circles. How about stretch marks? So stretch marks could
be caused by not having enough collagen, you know, for
your body to you know, make the and stretch basically.

(44:31):
So I was just pregnant, right, and I made sure
that I was having a lot of bone broth and
adequate protein every single day. So I gave my skin
the building blocks that it need to stretch and grow
and then shrink back. And no stretch marks. Really, And
I will say, it's not like I'm immune to stretch marks,
because I have stretch marks from being like a teenager,
like early twenties or whatever. I have stretch marks from

(44:53):
then me too.

Speaker 1 (44:54):
I have some of my boobs from when I woke
up one day and I was like, what in the world.

Speaker 2 (45:00):
Yeah, So make sure if your body is going through
any like periods of stretching, then you want to make
sure that you're having plenty of protein and really the
building blocks for collagen production.

Speaker 1 (45:12):
I hope to have children one day. I hope to
have a daughter, and when she's going through puberty, I'm
going to be feeding her so much bone broad and protein.

Speaker 2 (45:19):
Yeah, exactly.

Speaker 1 (45:20):
Okay. Do you think that eating organic really makes a
big difference in our skin?

Speaker 2 (45:26):
I think organic is very very important, right because for
our overall health. Now, if someone can't afford everything organic,
I think it's still better to eat the whole foods,
the fruits and the vegetables. Yeah, and it'll still be
good and shouldn't negatively impact us. I don't know that pesticides,
there's no I think direct connection between let's say pesticides

(45:48):
and breaking out. However, having a lot of pesticide and
chemical covered food can take a toll on our liver,
so and can you contribute to inflammation and other issues.
So I would say eating organic is important.

Speaker 1 (46:01):
You did something wild. You reversed your gray hair with food. Yeah,
how did you do this? Yeah?

Speaker 2 (46:08):
This is like mind blowing. Okay, So in the scientific literature,
there are case studies and even there's at least one
clinical trial which looked at reversal of gray hair, and
those ones typically focus on stress. So we know that
during periods of stress, people tend to get more gray hair.
But science has shown that periods of low stress, like

(46:30):
when you're on vacation, for example, can actually reverse hair.
But here's what nobody's really talking about. High heavy metals
can also contribute to gray hair and a lack of minerals.
So for me, what I did personally is I got
my mineral panel and my heavy metal panel, saw where
my imbalances were, and then worked to correct them by

(46:51):
adding in foods that helped to get rid of the
heavy metals and adding in minerals, and that actually has
reversed several gray hairs on my head.

Speaker 1 (47:00):
You don't color your hair, No, you don't have any
grays that I see.

Speaker 2 (47:03):
I mean, I have a couple here. It's so interesting.
For me, it's it's like acne in the sense that
premature great has many factors, and for each of us
those factors may be slightly different. So for me, I
think it was the metals and lack of certain minerals
like I was low and copper and adding those back
in helped. But it's also something with circulation, you know,

(47:24):
like some of us get tight shoulders and things. This
actually can kind of like block circulation and blood flow here.
So for me, I only have like gray hairs like
in a line like right here, hence why my part
is this way. But so doing scalp massage is actually
also really helpful. Or even now doing cosmetic acupuncture like
on your face and my scalp, it can.

Speaker 1 (47:43):
Be How long did it take?

Speaker 2 (47:47):
I mean it'll take a couple of months because your
hair grows out slowly, but I mean I've been doing
this over a period of years. It's been a couple
of years now, and even like actually earlier this week,
I found a few more hairs that have you know,
started turning back. So it's a slow process, but you
could do it.

Speaker 1 (48:04):
Okay, there are so many skincare trends that promise a
lot of things, So I want your thoughts on all
of these trends. Okay, snail musin worth the hype or
pass pass Korean skincare.

Speaker 2 (48:17):
It's good, but breed the ingredient list, like.

Speaker 1 (48:21):
Do you need it? If you're eating proper things.

Speaker 2 (48:24):
I think like they're very advanced, and I think they
do have a lot of gentle products, which is really nice.
But I do still stand behind our diet and our lifestyle.
Are going to do the heavy lifting first our skin.

Speaker 1 (48:37):
I'm going to interrupt this game to tell you that
one of the reasons I wanted to interview you and
why I appreciate your message so much, is I think
our country, specifically women are skincare obsessed. And when I
see the Sephora teens, yeah, they're going in for skincare
an eight and nine year olds. Yeah, it hurts my heart.

Speaker 2 (48:55):
Yeah, it is like I think it's like the next generation.

Speaker 1 (48:58):
Of like death, like diet pills. They have skincare, and
it's like, you don't actually need any of this shifts.

Speaker 2 (49:05):
You don't, you don't, and they're starting earlier, and what
ends up happening They end up harming their skin barrier,
making their skin more irritated and red, and then needing
more products to deal with the issues that they've created.

Speaker 1 (49:15):
So what do you say to all of the dermatologists
and all of the skincare experts and the beauty editors
who really, I don't think that they're selling us a
bag of goods. I think they truly believe that these
ingredients and these products work. What do you say to that.

Speaker 2 (49:30):
Look, we definitely need to wash our face and moisturize
because our skin is also coming into contact with pollutants.
So the way I see it, skin has an outside
and inside. So yes, we just need a gentle cleanser,
maybe a serum, and a moisturizer. Like it can be
really really basic skincare. Our skin is really coming from
what we're eating. From our blood, right, It's coming from

(49:53):
the inflammation levels in our body, It's coming from how
much you know protein. All of these things are affecting
our skin. So we do need topicals, but not to
the extent that we're being sold. And I think that
this whole idea of a ten step skincare it's just
this consumer culture where it's like more and more and
more and more and more, and we're doing shelfies where
we have hundreds of bottles in the bathroom. You know,

(50:13):
it's just it's completely unnecessary. I think a good skincare
routine is just a handful of products that are tailored
to your skin and to your needs, that are gentle
ingredients and the rest is our diet lifestyle.

Speaker 1 (50:24):
May ask you how old you are, I'm thirty eight,
so you have almost no signs of aging in your face.
Your skin is glowing. I just think you are a
testament to that.

Speaker 2 (50:33):
Oh thank you. Yeah, I mean I definitely am starting
signs of aging a little bit here. But you know
what's also great.

Speaker 1 (50:39):
For that, yeah, taping.

Speaker 2 (50:41):
Yeah. So I think another thing that drives me knots
is this whole preventative boatox and how we're telling young
people that they need to start doing botox and they're
twenty some of them doing it in their teens to
prevent wrinkles. So, first off, I think that we need
to get rid of this messaging that wrinkles are bad
or or not nice or not beautiful, because they actually

(51:02):
are and aging is such a beautiful thing. It is
such a blessing to be able to age, because not
everybody wakes up, you know, in the morning. If you
woke up and you're you're a day older, you're very lucky.
So I think number one, we need to first of
all forget that messaging. And as like an aside, I
remember seeing a billboard with George Clooney on it, and
he had all of these wrinkles on his face. But

(51:24):
he was being celebrated, right, and he's sexy, and he's
as a sex symbol. Yeah, he's a sex symbol with
wrinkles on his face. But if there was a billboard
with a woman, You'll never see a billboard with a
woman with wrinkles on her face. Never. I've never seen
it in my life. Have you seen it?

Speaker 1 (51:37):
And I appreciate Loriel for doing this, but I've finally
seen I've seen them do it. They have Helen Mirren
and Andy McDowell. Okay, I'm starting to see it from them,
which I appreciate it.

Speaker 2 (51:47):
Imagine it's twenty twenty five, you know that is happening.
So I think that's number one, is we need to
change that messaging. And then secondly, yeah, so this idea
of preventative botox, I think it's just again creating the
subscription model, where then these people are becoming a reliant
on doing these things because it's actually making them look
older and so and yeah, I just feel like people

(52:10):
are scared of aging, and we shouldn't be scared of aging.
We should embrace it and like, look, you know, ask
someone I'm thirty eight, Okay, I am starting to see
a little bit when I smile. Like sometimes I look
at pictures, I was like, oh, there's a little line
there now that wasn't before, and I think there are
You know, if someone wants to do something to make
them feel selves feel better and more confident, go for it.

(52:33):
You know, there's no judgment or shame in doing that.
I just think that if we want to do these things,
the non toxic route is always beneficial from a health
perspective or optimal, I would say. And taping is something
that is super simple, super cheap. It's literally putting like
this Japanese tape like on your skin and it just
kind of relaxes the muscle and they actually just go

(52:56):
away like it's crazy. So you do it at night,
do it at night, you do it overnight, and I'm
telling you, in a couple of days you see a difference.
People do it on their foreheads or anywhere you have
like lines and sprinkles that can actually make it difference.

Speaker 1 (53:07):
Can you do it in your jowel lines? Yeah you can,
because that to me is the toughest place when I
see people do like botox, or filler around their jowels.
It's the most obvious, like, yeah, you can kind of
get away with doing it on your forehead and nobody knows. Yeah,
but the jowels are hard.

Speaker 2 (53:22):
Yeah, and again there's no shame or judgment and doing
the botox. I think we all need to do what
makes us feel good. But I think we're not being
told about the alternatives. We're not being told for example,
like you know, if people always remark about my forehead
because I don't have any lines on my forehead and
for thirty eight, that's pretty good. But I believe that
is a testament to my diet and lifestyle, to keeping

(53:42):
my blood sugar stable, to having an anti accident rich
diet and nutree and rich diet, having bone broth and
plenty of protein. Right, But we're not telling people. We
should be telling the teenagers and the twenty year olds
eat this way and you won't need the botox. Right Yeah, Okay,
I'm going to restart the game. Okay, So there are.

Speaker 1 (54:00):
So many skincare products that make a lot of promises.
I want to know your thoughts on all of these trends. Okay,
snail musin worth the hype No. How about Korean skincare
M middling. Everyone's obsessed with saunas and red light therapy.
Do they actually help?

Speaker 2 (54:17):
Yes?

Speaker 1 (54:18):
Guasha yes, ice rollers yeah, slugging m No, spray tans.
Are we playing with fire or is there a safe
way to do it?

Speaker 2 (54:32):
I'm not a fan of spray tns. Why Well, it's
a chemical and that smell that you smell, that's like
very That spray tns smell is actually your your skin,
like not burning, but dying your skin cells diy face
masks aka kitchen experiments. Depending what you're using to experiment,

(54:53):
they could be great. I love honey, I love strawberries, fruits.
They can can actually work. Honey's not going to break
you out. No, Honey's amazing. It's great for having.

Speaker 1 (55:00):
Actually collagen powders.

Speaker 2 (55:03):
I like collagen. It's good.

Speaker 1 (55:05):
You think even taking it orally helps.

Speaker 2 (55:08):
So yes. You know. There is this idea that any
type of protein that you eat, whether it's collagen powder
or a steak or a bean, your body's going to
break it down into the different amino acids and then
your body will then put them back together to create
collagen wherever it's needed. But there have actually been quite
a few studies on collagen supplements like collagen powders, and
they have found that it helps to reduce lines, fine lines,

(55:30):
and wrinkles, and improve hydration and elasticity of the skin.
So yeah, I think collagen powder is helpful. Hyaluronic acid everything, No,
not a fan? Okay, we have some rapid fire. A
food that you eat every day, flack seed. What's an
adult problem that nobody prepared you for as a kid

(55:52):
Getting a baby to go to sleep. I don't know
why they don't just sleep naturally.

Speaker 1 (55:57):
Oh, well, this trend that you think more people should
know about out.

Speaker 2 (56:02):
Sauna?

Speaker 1 (56:03):
Ooh interesting. I thought you were going to say face taping.

Speaker 2 (56:06):
Oh, actually I should say face taping. That's probably better
because I feel like people know about sauna.

Speaker 1 (56:10):
What's one tiny habit that changed your health way more
than you thought it would walking darly, a simple pleasure
you will never give up.

Speaker 2 (56:18):
Dark chocolate.

Speaker 1 (56:19):
A book that you read that changed your life, something
you think everybody should read.

Speaker 2 (56:24):
So many good ones. I'll say Loving What Is by
Byron Katy? Ooh you know that one?

Speaker 1 (56:31):
It's interesting? No, because but Gabby Reese was on the
podcast and she shared a Byron Katy book. Okay, and
I never heard of Byron Katy.

Speaker 2 (56:41):
Yeah, she's really good. So loving what is helps you
shift your perspective on what you allow to stress you
out and what you don't. I love that. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (56:51):
I had a I think she's a psychologist, doctor Ellen Langer.
They call her the Mother of Mindfulness at Harvard.

Speaker 2 (56:57):
I saw that interview.

Speaker 1 (56:58):
Really she was amazing. Yeah, and she said something that
shifted my perspective on stress. She had her home burned down,
and even then she used this phrase and she said,
is it Is it a tragedy or an inconvenience? And
she was like, even my home burning down, which is
so traumatic and awful, is really just a big inconvenience.

(57:18):
Like the only thing that's a tragedy is your health,
you know.

Speaker 2 (57:21):
Yeah, so true. Yeah, and it's amazing, Like it actually
gives me chills because it shifts your whole life. Like
I read that book probably fifteen twenty years ago, and
still it's like the message resonates with me and whenever
I find myself getting flustered or you know, upset over something,
I just realized it's all small stuff. Yeah, you know,

(57:43):
so great, Thank you.

Speaker 1 (57:44):
I'm going to read that. What's something that every woman
should try once?

Speaker 2 (57:49):
That's something I want every woman should try once.

Speaker 1 (57:51):
Whatever first came to your mind. Don't give us the
second thought.

Speaker 2 (57:54):
No, I don't know. I'm okay, something I should try
traveling solo.

Speaker 1 (57:59):
Love that, Okay, grab the question everything card game, okay,
and please pick whichever card calls to you.

Speaker 2 (58:06):
Okay, I just like, yeah, yeah, pick and I read
the cards and see okay.

Speaker 1 (58:11):
Oh no, you can't read that.

Speaker 2 (58:13):
It's like okay, bye, okay, okay. What is the best
advice someone has given you? And why? Okay?

Speaker 1 (58:24):
Mmmm?

Speaker 2 (58:26):
The best advice someone has given me is to whatever
you want to charge someone ten exit and you know,
and that's it, and just ten excent and you will
be surprised at what happens.

Speaker 1 (58:38):
I love that. Yeah. Rebecca Minkoff said, say a number
that makes you want to throw up, and I never forgot.

Speaker 2 (58:43):
That same same principle.

Speaker 1 (58:45):
Yeah, Maria, thank you. I really really enjoyed this. I
have to tell you, sometimes science stuff is hard for
me because I don't get it right away. And you're
an excellent science communicator. You're so great at what you do.

Speaker 2 (58:59):
Oh, thank you, thank you so much. I'm so happy
to be here. And I love that you question everything
because I feel like I'm someone who questions everything. So
you just made this conversation like very seamless.

Speaker 1 (59:09):
Thanks. Thanks for saying that you do. You question the
status quo of what is. That's why they really wanted
to have you on.

Speaker 2 (59:14):
Yeah, thank you.

Speaker 1 (59:20):
Okay, you know what time it is. Today's a good day.
To have a good day. I'll see you next week.